Capital in the Twenty-First Century - The Library of the Uncommons

eBook

English language

Published Nov. 7, 2014 by Belknap Press of Harvard University Press.

ISBN:: 978-0-674-43000-6

What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality.

Piketty shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the …

What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In Capital in the Twenty-First Century, Thomas Piketty analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality.

Piketty shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the optimistic decades following World War II. The main driver of inequality--the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth--today threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values. But economic trends are not acts of God. Political action has curbed dangerous inequalities in the past, Piketty says, and may do so again.

A work of extraordinary ambition, originality, and rigor, Capital in the Twenty-First Century reorients our understanding of economic history and confronts us with sobering lessons for today.

(Original text from the spine of the book)

16 editions

mau reviewed Capital In the 21st Century by Thomas Piketty

Worth a read

4 stars

Piketty and his colaborators collected information about the distribution of incomes from labor and from capital around the world over the past couple of centuries.

This data allows them to show how economic inequality has changed over this period in different countries.

The findings are striking: economic inequality in the modern era is as high as during the "Gilded age", and it is continually becoming more extreme.

Piketty argues that contrary to Kuznets hopeful belief, the reduction of inequality observed by him in the USA was not an automatic result of a well functioning capitalist system, but a product of policies meant to achieve this reduction.

Had Kuznets had more data, he would have seen his inequality curve rise again.

For labor income to increase, the economy needs to grow.

For capital income to increase, part of the returns have to be reinvested.

…

Piketty and his colaborators collected information about the distribution of incomes from labor and from capital around the world over the past couple of centuries.

This data allows them to show how economic inequality has changed over this period in different countries.

The findings are striking: economic inequality in the modern era is as high as during the "Gilded age", and it is continually becoming more extreme.

Piketty argues that contrary to Kuznets hopeful belief, the reduction of inequality observed by him in the USA was not an automatic result of a well functioning capitalist system, but a product of policies meant to achieve this reduction.

Had Kuznets had more data, he would have seen his inequality curve rise again.

For labor income to increase, the economy needs to grow.

For capital income to increase, part of the returns have to be reinvested.

The fundamental force for divergence, making the rich richer, is the fact that the rate of return of capital (r) has historically been greater than the rate of growth of the economy (g), which means owning things has historically been the surest way to increase your income.

There is also a force for convergence, helping labor increase its income: education and diffusion of knowledge.

But historically this has not been anywhere near enough to compensate for the strong force of divergence.

The book was written more than a decade ago and the problems described have since become worse, the proposed solution still seems reasonable but politically unattainable as the countries of the world are still locked in a race to the bottom for corporate taxes.

jared@mathstodon.xyz

rated it

Sept. 4, 2014